Stats: Finland shows record growth for commercial radio

In Finland, commercial radio station listening and revenue grew at a record pace during summer, according to new reports released recently.

For listening, commercial radio has overtaken public service radio for the first time. The latest Finnpanel research says, according to Finnish trade body RadioMedia, that commercial radio's share of all listening was 50.3% for the latest quarter (May-July).

94% of Finns tune into the radio every week (aged 9+). Finnpanel uses diaries to measure radio listening; using a panel of 21,000 people (1 in 257 people) to estimate total listening across all 5.4 million people in Finland. The UK uses similar research, and interviews the equivalent of 1 in 641 people.

For revenue, RadioMedia quote TNS Ad Intelligence July 2015, stating that radio grew in July by 11%, while its share of total ad revenue was 11.5%. At the same time, say RadioMedia, total advertising shrank by 2.7% year-on-year.

In 2014, the Finnish radio ad market was €57.2m, growing by 9.4% year-on-year: and the equivalent of $11 USD per person. In the same time, the UK radio ad market was £575.4m; the equivalent of $13 USD per person; and the US's $1.7b revenue works out at a rather eye-watering $54 USD per person.

RadioMedia's CEO, Stefan Möller, said: "The good figures are about gathering the fruits of years and years of investment in content, services and marketing."